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Making sure I had my data tablet so I could pay for the paint supplies, I headed out of my shop, cutting through the crowds to the hover-vators.
And if I cast my gaze around, looking for a tall, grinning orc... Well...
Nobody knew it but me.
CHAPTER FIVE
Archie
Iyawned, scrubbingmy free hand down my face before taking a swig from my steaming travel mug of chai tea. The Elora Station levels whizzed by as my hover-vator zoomed upwards towards floor 1200.
Should have made some golden milk...
Orc-Orokish golden milk wasn’t the golden milk humans were used to. No, instead of a turmeric-spiced drink, Orc-Orokish golden milk was our version of coffee. Highly caffeinated, the yellow beans were much stronger than what humans used for coffee. I preferred the taste of chai, purchased from a human spice shop on the station, but considering my lack of sleep, I should have gone for the golden milk today.
I took another sip of chai and then grinned to myself. Lack of sleep be damned. I had a good reason for it today.
I was going to see Maggie.
Portal of the moons, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the pretty, clever human next door. It currently was just after 11am station time, and I would have gotten to her sooner, but I’d had to rush around getting things ready for the pub earlier. I’d had to check in with some of our vendors, something I normally would have done between 10am and our opening hour of noon. But I’d gotten up at a blasphemously early hour to get it done quickly. And considering I hadn’t slept until after 3am, I was starting to feel the effects.
I grinned again, straightening my shoulders and tossing my freshly tied braid behind me. Who cared if I was tired? I was a strong and virile orc. This was nothing. Especially if it meant spending time with Maggie.
I liked her. I really did. I didn’t bother trying to deny it or reckon with it as the hover-vator came to a buzzing stop at my level. I’d never been the type to deny or ignore reality. The reality was that, so far, Maggie had proved to be an enchanting, infatuating new neighbour.
And I didn’t plan to let this go.
Whether she felt the same remained to be seen. We’d only just met, after all. But that was why I was walking briskly to her shop right now. To win her over with my manual labour and ample charms. Hopefully.
Maybe I should have left the shirt behind again,I thought, frowning slightly to myself as I joined the crowds of tourists and shoppers. There was no denying the appreciative glances Maggie had given my bare torso and arms last night.Well, I can always take it off again if the situation calls for it.
I’d opted for my usual work attire – black trousers and a soft, stretchy, tight black T-shirt fashioned from willow-soft Hadorian cotton. As I crossed the final distance to Maggie’s shop, I ran dozens of questions inside my own brain-bowl. Wondering what she was doing, how she was feeling his morning, if she was tired, too, if she was stiff from sleeping on the floor last night. I wondered how she’d perceive me, and the feeling was a slightly unnerving one. I couldn’t remember the last time I truly worried what someone else would think of me.
But I worried now.
Definitely should have left the shirt behind. That way if she were to find me lacking in any way, I could make up for it with a flex of bare muscles...
